Impact of Mining Industry on Agricultural Land Degradation from Heavy Metal Contamination and Health Risk Assessment of Rice Crops in Contaminated Paddy Fields
DOI: 10.14416/j.ind.tech.2021.09.001
Keywords:
Geo-accumulation index, Health risk assessment, Heavy metals, Soil pollutionAbstract
Heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils nearby the old mining industries has threatened food safety for human health. This research aimed to develop a new methodology for soil pollution assessment of individual and holistic agricultural areas. Geochemical index of heavy metals including As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn, in selected paddy fields was evaluated together with health risk assessment of those heavy metals in rice grains. The results showed that soil in the studied areas was contaminated with As, Cd, Pb, and Zn. Rice harvested from 6 out of 11 paddy fields, corresponding to 55%, employed health risk at a high level. Multivariate analysis indicated that anthropogenic activity was a major source of soil pollution in a highly contaminated area. The classification of paddy fields based on potential ecological risk index (RI) was found to be related to the health risk assessment of As and Cd contaminating in rice grains. It was concluded that the proposed soil pollution assessment method was efficiently used to identify suitable agricultural areas in heavy metal contaminated zones adjacent to the old mining industries for safe rice crops.
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